Dvar Torah
As promised, here is the Dvar Torah I delivered Friday night:
Time and its sanctification always have played an important role in Jewish culture; indeed, the very first commandment that the Jewish people are given, even before the revelation at Sinai, is the sanctification of Nissan as the first month. So time has been important to us all… the time.
In the book of Vayikra, God tells Moses to dedicate certain days of the year as holy. The Torah then goes on to list many of the cherished holidays that have come to define Judaism, such as Pesach, Rosh Hashana, and Succot. The first holiday listed, before any of these, is Shabbat. Shabbat is a perfect example of a sanctification of time: God decreed that, every week, we stop whatever work we are doing and dedicate one day to “a complete rest.” By the way, the biggest fan of this verse must be my father, who takes the idea of “a complete rest” very seriously. So Shabbat exemplifies of one type of holiness: a holiday that bears a divine mandate.
However, the divine dedication of time is not the only method of establishing a holiday. Rosh Chodesh, the new moon or beginning of the month, is a law that God gave with the rest of the Torah, yet is partially in the hands of man. That is to say that God decreed that the appearance of the new moon will mark the beginning of the month, yet the Sanhedrin, or Jewish court, decides when the new moon is visible and, consequentially, when Rosh Chodesh occurs. This is the second kind of sanctity of time: a day whose holiness comes equally, mutually, from God and man.
There is a third kind of sanctity of time, and this is the sanctification by man, and by man alone. Though most holidays fall within the first two categories, events since the giving of the Torah have required commemoration through their own holidays. One example is the holiday of Purim, where Esther and Mordechai establish the 13th, 14th, and 15th of Adar as a commemoration of the Jews’ salvation from Haman’s appetite for destruction. Another well-known man-made holiday has been going on this week: Chanukah, which celebrates the defeat of the Greeks and Hellenism, and the miracle of the long-lasting oil. Thus, the third type of holiness: a holiday created solely by man, established to commemorate a noteworthy event.
Then isn’t it something that today we stand at the intersection of these three types of holiness: Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Chanukah. The divine aspect, Shabbat; the mutual aspect, Rosh Chodesh; and the human aspect, Chanukah. All three come together on one day, a relatively rare occurrence in the Jewish calendar cycle. No other day of the year can claim to have these three simultaneously.
Just as today symbolizes the overlap of these three types of holiness, so too does the bar mitzvah ceremony contain these three facets. The reaching of age thirteen marks the beginning of a transformation– physical, mental, emotional, psychological, social, and more. This aspect is in the hands of God– you reach age thirteen, you start growing a mustache and noticing girls; that’s just how it goes. There is the mutual aspect as well: the Bar Mitzvah reads from God’s Torah in front of a congregation of at least ten men, yielding an experience both godly and communal. And then there is the human level as well. A bar mitzvah becomes responsible for his actions in the community– in ancient times, he would begin his own independent life; in more modern times, he merely throws a party and hires a DJ. Or in the case of our family, he usually throws a party halfway around the world.
Matthew, as you become a bar mitzvah, you will begin making your own decisions and creating your own life. In doing so, you may notice certain patterns, certain “moments:” times when you’d rather be alone, and times when you’d rather be with others; time when you’ll be engrossed in Jewish activities, and times when you’ll be involved in activities unconnected to religion. As the examples of the holidays show, each moment can exist on its own. But, as in your bar mitzvah, Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Chanukah, when you bring it all together in the right proportions– the alone time and the social time, the Jewish activities and the secular activities; the divine and the mutual and the human– you will be able to live a life that is infused with holiness and meaning. For that is what holiness is– meaning.
Today, Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Chanukah, is the starting point. I wish you the best of luck as you continue your journey– your quest for holiness and meaning.
Mazal Tov.
Time and its sanctification always have played an important role in Jewish culture; indeed, the very first commandment that the Jewish people are given, even before the revelation at Sinai, is the sanctification of Nissan as the first month. So time has been important to us all… the time.
In the book of Vayikra, God tells Moses to dedicate certain days of the year as holy. The Torah then goes on to list many of the cherished holidays that have come to define Judaism, such as Pesach, Rosh Hashana, and Succot. The first holiday listed, before any of these, is Shabbat. Shabbat is a perfect example of a sanctification of time: God decreed that, every week, we stop whatever work we are doing and dedicate one day to “a complete rest.” By the way, the biggest fan of this verse must be my father, who takes the idea of “a complete rest” very seriously. So Shabbat exemplifies of one type of holiness: a holiday that bears a divine mandate.
However, the divine dedication of time is not the only method of establishing a holiday. Rosh Chodesh, the new moon or beginning of the month, is a law that God gave with the rest of the Torah, yet is partially in the hands of man. That is to say that God decreed that the appearance of the new moon will mark the beginning of the month, yet the Sanhedrin, or Jewish court, decides when the new moon is visible and, consequentially, when Rosh Chodesh occurs. This is the second kind of sanctity of time: a day whose holiness comes equally, mutually, from God and man.
There is a third kind of sanctity of time, and this is the sanctification by man, and by man alone. Though most holidays fall within the first two categories, events since the giving of the Torah have required commemoration through their own holidays. One example is the holiday of Purim, where Esther and Mordechai establish the 13th, 14th, and 15th of Adar as a commemoration of the Jews’ salvation from Haman’s appetite for destruction. Another well-known man-made holiday has been going on this week: Chanukah, which celebrates the defeat of the Greeks and Hellenism, and the miracle of the long-lasting oil. Thus, the third type of holiness: a holiday created solely by man, established to commemorate a noteworthy event.
Then isn’t it something that today we stand at the intersection of these three types of holiness: Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Chanukah. The divine aspect, Shabbat; the mutual aspect, Rosh Chodesh; and the human aspect, Chanukah. All three come together on one day, a relatively rare occurrence in the Jewish calendar cycle. No other day of the year can claim to have these three simultaneously.
Just as today symbolizes the overlap of these three types of holiness, so too does the bar mitzvah ceremony contain these three facets. The reaching of age thirteen marks the beginning of a transformation– physical, mental, emotional, psychological, social, and more. This aspect is in the hands of God– you reach age thirteen, you start growing a mustache and noticing girls; that’s just how it goes. There is the mutual aspect as well: the Bar Mitzvah reads from God’s Torah in front of a congregation of at least ten men, yielding an experience both godly and communal. And then there is the human level as well. A bar mitzvah becomes responsible for his actions in the community– in ancient times, he would begin his own independent life; in more modern times, he merely throws a party and hires a DJ. Or in the case of our family, he usually throws a party halfway around the world.
Matthew, as you become a bar mitzvah, you will begin making your own decisions and creating your own life. In doing so, you may notice certain patterns, certain “moments:” times when you’d rather be alone, and times when you’d rather be with others; time when you’ll be engrossed in Jewish activities, and times when you’ll be involved in activities unconnected to religion. As the examples of the holidays show, each moment can exist on its own. But, as in your bar mitzvah, Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Chanukah, when you bring it all together in the right proportions– the alone time and the social time, the Jewish activities and the secular activities; the divine and the mutual and the human– you will be able to live a life that is infused with holiness and meaning. For that is what holiness is– meaning.
Today, Shabbat Rosh Chodesh Chanukah, is the starting point. I wish you the best of luck as you continue your journey– your quest for holiness and meaning.
Mazal Tov.
posted by Yoni Bain | 11:30 AM
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